In the heart of Alexandroupolis and on its unique hill the Holy Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of the city, is built. The history of Alexandroupolis is intertwined with the Cathedral of St. Nicholas and it is known that the church, on the one hand the small original church and on the other hand the latest grand one we all know today, was the first cell for the development in the city. The church, blessing, source of pride, strength and hope for the people of our city, has experienced glories and tribulations, joys and sorrows.
The Church of St. Nicholas was built originally in 1860 at the corner of today's roads Mazaraki K. and K. Paleologos, where today lies the park of the Mitropoleos Square. In 1890 the seat of the Metropolitan of the Province of Ainos was transferred to Alexandroupolis and gave a greater value to its future role in the region. After that the planning to build a new church started, in order to replace the little old one. The new majestic Cathedral of St. Nicholas was founded in 1892 and inaugurated in 1901 by the then Metropolitan of Ainos, Germanos Theotokas.
It is a stone basilica with a dome and two towers that were erected in 1908 with a donation from the Austro-Hungarian consul, Vlasios Souchor. Inside the church in 1920 the protocol for the City’s liberation was signed. Its iconostasis is “work of Pergaminelli from Mytilene, 1932”. Inside the church images and relics are kept, such as the carved image of the Virgin Tryfotissa, a work of the 13th century by Ainos, the image of Our Lady Mavroforousa, brought in Greece by refugees from Eastern Thrace, and the Holy Head of Nicholas, one of the forty witnesses.